Recent Posts
Welcome to the News section! Here you can find out about all sorts of news related to Land of Opportunity, the people and issues presented in the film, and upcoming events.
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We also just launched a brand new blog to detail the ups and downs of creating our interactive web video experience. Check it out and share your own stories about the joys and sorrows of cutting-edge filmmaking!
RECENT POSTS
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Check out our demo!
The DEMO of our Interactive Web Video Player is live and we need your help! We would love feedback on your user experience so dive in then please take our survey and let us know what you think! As we move into the next phase of development, we will use your feedback to improve every aspect of the player from functionality to design. Your comments will also help us craft a rich and engaging user experience. Thank you in advance for your input, it will make all the difference as we see this project develop and grow!
Please forward these links to any potential advocates, educators, media-makers, and generally savvy people in your network who would be willing to test the player and provide us their feedback. If you have additional comments or ideas on how to use this web player as a tool/resource in your community, contact us or join our google group.
If you don’t know what the heck this is, read below for more info:
It’s a brave new world here at LAND OF OPPORTUNITY! We're harnessing the power of leading-edge technology to amplify the voices, stories and issues we've been capturing in New Orleans and beyond for over six years. With support from the Ford Foundation and BlackPublicMedia.org, and with help from the Mozilla Foundation, Living Docs and the Center for Social Media, we're developing an opensource interactive web video player that cues additional related multi-media content, which users can navigate, share and tailor in myriad ways. This content will be curated by community, data, educational and media partners in New Orleans and sister cities. This is a dynamic multi-layered story space designed to increase engagement and inspire action around core urban issues.
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Interactive Web Video Player
It's a brave new world here at LAND OF OPPORTUNITY! We're harnessing the power of leading-edge technology to amplify the voices, stories and issues we've been capturing for over six years. With support from the Ford Foundation's Metropolitan Opportunity Unit and Black Public Media.org and with the help of the Mozilla Foundation, the Center for Social Media and the newly created Living Docs Project, we're developing an opensource interactive web video player that cues additional related multi-media content, which users can navigate, share and tailor in myriad ways. This is a dynamic curated story space designed to increase engagement and inspire action around core urban issues: affordable housing, urban redevelopment/planning, immigration, and economic displacement.
Users will access and contribute to the stories that they need to explore their own challenges in their own communities. Footage from LAND OF OPPORTUNITY (over 1500 hours amassed in the past six years) will be supplemented with content curated by advocates, educators, data entities and other mediamakers in "sister cities". This player and the content it houses may be used for a variety of purposes: housing advocates could add content that supports an affordable housing campaign; a Latin American studies educator may wish to integrate it into a class on immigration; others still may want to feature top issues in urban planning/redevelopment. In fact, we anticipate that this player may be used for uses that we cannot even imagine now, but will be able to document as we develop and implement the project. Our process will be public to benefit other mediamakers who are working with emerging media in social issue narratives The development and documenting process will be guided by our partners at the Center for Social Media, Mozilla Foundation and others. We have a barebones demo of the player. We're looking for help with development and implementation of the player in every aspect from design and functionality to user interface. We're also looking for partners in potential sister cities who want to put this to use! Please join the conversation and give us feedback on the project!
Producer/Director Luisa Dantas will also be on a panel at SXSW Interactive, sharing the ups and downs of our development process so far, so stop by if you're there!
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R.I.P. Joe Allen
We have learned the sad news that Joe Allen, Big Chief of the Red, White and Blue Mardi Gras Indian gang, passed away last week. We spent several months filming Joe’s incredible dedication to the craft, culture and artistry of Mardi Gras Indian traditions in New Orleans. We first met him on St. Joseph’s night, 2007, as he proudly wore his majestic post-Katrina suit, which he painstakingly sewed for over a year while displaced in Houston. Joe’s fierce determination to rebuild his home and culture shone through in everything he did. He will be sorely missed.
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Great week for Land of Opportunity!
We are excited to announce that Land of Opportunity has won “Best International Documentary” at the 2012 Reel World Film Festival! You can see the list of award winners here.
Land of Opportunity has also had a great review in Shelterforce magazine. Read Kalima Rose’s review here.
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February 06, 2012
Affordable Housing
Please support Kawana Jasper!
Kawana Jasper, tireless advocate for social justice, devoted mom, and protagonist of LAND OF OPPORTUNITY, needs your support!
We have learned that Kawana Jasper was arrested last Tuesday night (January 31st) outside of her home and in front of her children. Her bail was set at $50,000, a shockingly high amount-and as a result, Kawana's family has had a difficult time getting her out. The detailed facts of what took place are still unclear, but it sounds as though Kawana was arrested after she called NOPD for help when someone threatened her at home. We are currently working with Kawana's family to find the legal resources she needs to address any criminal charge and secure her housing.
In the meantime, we are putting a call out for support to everyone we can think of to help raise the money that will be needed to support Kawana during this difficult time, including legal fees. The Jasper family was able to secure Kawana’s release from Orleans Parish Prison on bond today, but she faces a long road ahead and will need all the support we can muster.
Please consider donating whatever amount you can in order to help Kawana out. No amount is too small. Kawana is a part of our social justice community and we hope to be able to show that we have her back during this difficult time. She is a devoted mother and needs to be able to care for her kids.
You can make a donation online or you can drop checks made out to Kawana Jasper or cash off to Kawana’s mother, Sharon Jasper, at her home at:
2731 Bruxelles Street
New Orleans, LA 70119The Jane Place Neighborhood Sustainability Initiative is serving as a fiscal sponsor for online contributions. All money raised, other than fees charged through Paypal, will be turned over to the Jasper family.
Thank you for taking the time to read this and please forward it on to anyone who might be able to help.
Sincerely,
Luisa Dantas, Shana griffin and Kate Scott (on behalf of the Jasper family) -
Land of Opportunity nominated for a Progie Award
Land of Opportunity was among the illustrious nominees for the 5th annual "Progie" Award for 2012's Best Progressive Films and Filmmakers.
We joined other amazing documentary films like Granito: How to Nail a Dictator in being nominated for the Langlois award for “best progressive picture deserving theatrical release in the U.S.”
To learn more, Click Here
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Stop Web Censorship-Speak out against SOPA
As we develop interactive web content, we recognize the fundamental need for an open and democratic web. The SOPA bill threatens that.
This Wed Jan 18, many of your favorites sites will be unavailable to you to stop web censorship in the form of the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and its corresponding Senate bill, PIPA . Please support them and take action by telling your representative not to support the SOPA and PIPA bills. Learn More -
Our DVD is a great holiday gift!
This holiday season, in solidarity with the 99%/Occupy movement and other similar actions such as Bank Transfer Day, we are joining the call to ask people to avoid corporate “big box” purchases of any kind this holiday season. We encourage you instead to spend your hard-earned dollars at family-owned and independent businesses throughout the holiday season.
We are also very proud of the fact that we have a beautiful new DVD to sell, and want to encourage you to consider buying it for yourself or your friends and family this holiday season. In doing so, you will be avoiding the thronging masses and shilling corporate pitchmen, and instead support the work of lovable (and debt-ridden) indie filmmakers! In addition to DVDs, we also have t-shirts designed by hot local New Orleans designer Dirty Coast. They’re sleek, soft and sassy and a great conversation-starter! We have women’s and men’s sizes available.
We have already begun shipping DVDs to people across the country and the world. As always, if you’ve seen the film, please email us your comments or post them on our facebook page. We also encourage you to hold screenings for friends, family and community. So sign up to host a Happening today!
Here are some things our viewers have said to us after watching Land of Opportunity:
If your goal was to get people to think, it worked on me. Thanks so much for bringing the film to our community. And thanks so much for pointing out the importance of focusing on our own community needs. It’s always easier to judge what is happening in another community than to deal with our own real issues at hand. Please keep up both your good and important work.
-Jim, Urbana ILI watched the film and found it wonderful and moving. It is fascinating as a piece that has some much texture and detail about organizing, policy and politics, but doesn’t have a certain thesis that is narrated over or shoved down your throat as the conclusion to what it all means. It is a wonderful tool for teaching and provoking discussions. -Kevin, Minneapolis, MN
I want to say thank you for a job well-done…as a former New Orleanian with a Ph.D. in urban studies, I have grown weary and leery of so much of the work. Your documentary was one of the few I’ve seen that I believe shows a fair and true representation of the complexities. -Denese, Chicago, IL
The film is truly a masterpiece. Every time I see it I am truly moved. I especially appreciate the focus on organizing, which I feel like is something no other documentary has shown to the same extent. I appreciate that the film ends with a sense of urgency—hopeful but not rosy. -Hannah, New Orleans, LA
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November 14, 2011
Affordable Housing
GNOFHAC files suit against landlord over discrimination against Latino renters.
Our partners at the GNOFHAC have filed suit against a landlord over discrimination against Latino renters in the Greater New Orleans area. You can read their press release here
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Three Upcoming Land of Opportunity Screenings!
Land of Opportunity is having three screenings in the next 10 days:
1. New Orleans:
Friday, November 4th at 6pm
First Unitarian Universalist Church of New Orleans
2903 Jefferson (at Claiborne)
See the flier here.2. Chicago:
Saturday November 5th, 10am-4pm
5811 South Ellis Ave // Film Studies Center (Cobb Hall 306)
Chicago, Illinois
Part of a half-day symposium sponsored by the University of Chicago Human Rights Program
See more info and the flier here.3. University of Illinois: Champaign-Urbana campus
Monday, November 7th @7pm
See the attached flier here. -
Occupy NOLA
There is a lot of great energy with Occupy New Orleans in Duncan Plaza right now, which is amazing to witness in New Orleans!
We wanted to re-post this short video we presented on the 4th anniversary of Katrina, which elaborates on some of the history and people behind Homeless Pride, the homeless union that occupied Duncan Plaza for 6 months in 2007, and ultimately how it ended.
We will continue to post updates about “OccupyNOLA”: as they come, both here on the site as well as on our facebook page
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We Are Looking For Two Great Interns To Join Our Team!
Land of Opportunity is seeking two fantastic interns to assist us with our non-theatrical and educational outreach and distribution campaign.
Please see our full intern calls here: educational distribution and social media/marketing.
Anyone interested should email a resume, hours of availability and a short letter of interest detailing why this internship would be a good fit for you to ludant@joluproductions.com and please CC: resnedeker@joluproductions.com
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Come test drive the demo of our interactive web player at @NOVACNewOrleans' Third Thursday event! http://t.co/hXJhF1eA 2 days ago